Following her decommissioning in 1996, at only 13 years old, the USS Shenandoah was re-located at the James River Reserve Fleet in Fort Eustis, Va., awaiting final disposal.
Best Friends My co-workers in the sheetmetal shop were cool, and I also hung with a couple of guys from R3 division. I was only assigned there for nine months, not enough time to make any deep connections.
Best Moment Traveling to Acapulco, Panama canal, Curacao, The Bahamas, Jamaica, GITMO, St. Thomas Virgin Islands, and Fort Lauderdale, FL. I also enjoyed commissioning the ship, although I got there very late in the process.
Worst Moment Those open bay barracks in Norfolk during precom sucked. It felt like I was back in boot camp.
I didn't care much for Norfolk- too cold and too Navy. There wasn't much for me to do there except drinking way too much. I had to get out of there!
Chain of Command I was there for such a short time I don't remember much about them except for one guy HTC Moon from the pipe shop. I never even worked for him, but he did not like me for some reason. He did his best to make me miserable. In my opinion he was an a-hole!
Other Memories I remember when we in GITMO the entire ship's company lined up and marched to the gas chamber. We had division flags and everything. It was a nice touch.